Time and Again
by redxhighxheels
Summary: An aged Mike Newton takes a trip with his grandson, expecting to engage in the wonders of the outdoors. What he does not expect is a vision from his past.
1. Untouched by Time

Mike Newton was in a bad mood. His grandson Ryan, after days of endless complaints of how they never went anywhere in the summer, had convinced his doting grandfather to take him somewhere, anywhere. And so Mike stood grumpily in Cold Bay, Alaska. The plane ride had been long and tedious, his eighty year old joints grumbling in response to the turbulence.

Mike was normally easygoing, but he didn't trust this place. It was just like Forks, cloudy and rainy, but unfamiliar. Different faces littered the sidewalks and different cars drove down the main roads. No, this was not home. But the happiness of his grandson left Mike to ponder on his embittered thoughts in silence, because he would not spoil that jubilant mood. Besides, Mike thought waspishly, there was no one _here._ The town population hovered around one hundred, certainly not an interesting place. But Ryan liked to hike, and the forest was beautiful.

Mike stared at the cloudy sky sourly, looking out the window as Ryan drove toward their destination, a hiking trail.

"You do realize I'm too old for this, you know?"

Ryan grinned suddenly. "Nah, Gramps, you look just fine. Not a day over seventy. And don't act like that; Gram's pot roast has you moving faster than a guy with his pants on fire".

Mike didn't reply, just glared out at the clouds once more. Ryan parked the car, and they sullenly moved toward the forest trail. Even though he kept up the Olympic Outfitters store that his parents, God rest their souls, had owned, Mike was not especially athletic, definitely not at his age. That athleticism that showed in his grandson was inherited from his mother, who was Newton only by marriage.

Easy conversation carried them from the car up to about two miles in, where the trail became a sharp incline. Mike wheezed his way along, keeping a careful footing on the compacted dirt.

"So where are we going, anyhow?"

Ryan looked at his grandpa guiltily. "There's a river up top of this hill. Its supposed to be beautiful, and have the best fish around."

Mike sighed. "So that explains the poles. And how far up is this river?"

Ryan, if he had looked guilty before, now looked positively shamefaced.

"Another two miles, I'd say."

Mikes only response was a gulp. The uphill climb made talking next to impossible for someone Mike's age. And so they hiked in companionable silence, finally reaching the top of the hill. Before them lay a magnificent river, partially blocked by a copse of trees separating the Newtons from the water. Ryan began to fiddle with the fishing equipment in these woods as Mike took a step forward. And then he froze. Because, before Mike Newton, was someone he hadn't thought he would ever see again.

Before him Isabella Swan, (Cullen, he corrected himself mentally), sat, looking pensively into the water. But she was all wrong, and she was not alone. Instead, she was curled up against Edward Cullen, who looked exactly as he had remembered.

And that was the problem. He hadn't seen Bella or Edward in over sixty years, and yet they sat in this Alaska clearing looking the same way that they had in high school. Both were completely untouched by time. If Edward's familiarity was disturbing, then Bella's unfamiliarity was positively terrifying.

Although he recognized her instantly as Bella, she was startlingly different. Her deep brown eyes had given way to honey colored, nearly yellow ones. Her dark hair waved halfway down her back, and her face was porcelain and perfectly symmetrical. She was awesomely, terrifyingly beautiful. And as Mike stood staring, thinking only of Bella, Edward's eyes flashed to his face.

The intuition is Edward's eyes terrified him, and Bella turned, much too fast, to look as well. They whispered together, and though he was mere feet from them, he couldn't hear their words. And then, in the time it took Mike to blink, the beautiful pair from his past was gone. All that remained in front of him was the lovely river, making him wonder if he had imagined them. It was, after all, impossible, he reminded himself. Yet he could not shake the image.

And then a hand touched his shoulder, leaving Mike cringing away.

"What is it grandpa?" Ryan asked worriedly, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"No, not a ghost." a suddenly ashen Mike responded. "I thought I saw a girl that I knew once, a long time ago".

"Oh. Was it her?"

Mike was silent for a long moment, and then replied "No, it wasn't her. Not the girl I knew."

Then he smiled at his grandson as they walked toward the river, reaching out for his fishing pole.


	2. Time Beyond My Own

Well, as requested, here's the sequel in Edward's point of view! And, Breaking Dawn is LESS THAN 24 HOURS AWAY!! So, I'm excited, and I wrote this in a little celebration! Please read and review! Enjoy!

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There she lay, my eternal wife. My love. It had been sixty-two years since our wedding, since her change. Yet love was the ever-present factor, the one constant in our relationship. Through location changes and the blur of human faces, our love was still there. Always. And now she lay in Alaska by a river bank, head in my lap, looking at me with clouded-over golden eyes. Sixty-two years later, and still the same Bella. My wife.

This river in Alaska had called to us because of its familiarity. The difference was merely location, but the atmosphere was the same- like their meadow, but only in an unlike place. The day was clouded over, the wind biting. No sane human would venture up this hill, not on a day like today. Not even for the fishing, which was supposed to be great. And so the vampires had come out of hiding. The weather now would lock humans inside their homes, but there was a promise of sun that weathermen could not have foreseen. But the great eyes of Alice had. And so, here we lay, our freezing bodies warmed by the cool wind.

There was beauty here. My family, all of us, had moved here two years ago. Tanya's family was relatively close by, thirty miles, but a two minute run with vampire-speed. High school had been typical- a routine we'd been through too many times to count. Carlisle worked at the local hospital, and Esme had spent the whole time we'd been here decorating yet another house. Two years later, it still wasn't quite done. As an eternally alive woman, she took her time with these things. At 169 years old, I'd done this far more than my wife. Wife. Still the word brought me back to our wedding. The most important day of my life. Every moment on the top ten list that I'd told Bella was eclipsed by that one day. The day she became my wife.

The wedding went exactly as Alice had seen. Well, obviously. Bella's eyes showed terror as she walked down the aisle. Her dress was long and ivory, with lace-collar and sleeves. It was as it would have been had we married in my time. But this was not my time. I could see this by the simple differences- the technology, the people. But this was the life I was given, and I know why that is now- I was given time beyond my own to be with Bella. Her face warmed when Charlie released her at my side, her hands clutching mine. The words Emmett uttered mattered little- it was a ceremony we were likely to repeat at some point. What mattered was Bella, by my side, human. Just Bella. For the last time, and the first time, and forever.

That moment had been sixty-two years ago, but my immortal memory has held onto every detail. And as I lay here with her, stroking her long, soft hair, it feels as if nothing has changed. Of course, it has. Bella is as immortal as myself now. Her beauty has sharpened, features morphed slightly. She looks indefinably beautiful. Humans can sense it, see her loveliness. But Bella has remained as shy as ever. In sixty-two years, when she would be eighty had she remained human, she's never gained Rosalie's stubbornness or Alice's quiet confidence. Instead, she's held onto her meekness. And I love her for it.

The constant movement of the trees around us reflected the movement of our lives. Everything shifted constantly, but the main characters were essentially the same. The wind may blow the trees in the copse around, but the trees are still the same. Like the members of my family, they are nearly eternal. Bella's eyes fluttered as she looked up at me with a small smile, her head resting on my lap, the memory of sleep in her eyes. A rest she hasn't had in over sixty years. We whisper quietly about trivial things, our bedroom in the house, the color of Bella's new car. The peace is complete here, in our place, the one respite from humans, at least for today.

I am immersed in my wife, completely. Submerged in the essence of Bella, still. After all of this time, I still love her completely. And as I look into her eyes, she feels the same. But something's changed. The atmosphere isn't so peaceful anymore. There's a disturbance in the woods. A deer, maybe. My head is my own still. Is someone close by? I hear thoughts of fishing, but they seem miles away. Have I miscalculated? Is someone here? And now, I can see, and I can hear the thought, louder than the ones that belong to me, beating through my brain.

"Bella. Bella Swa-Cullen. It's…it's her. How?"

A little old man stands at the entrance to the clearing, amazed by the sight of my wife, and of me. Mike Newton. Bella's eyes are still shut, a peaceful look on her face, which is sparkling in the dull sunlight. But I need to interrupt.

"Darling, we need to go. We're no longer alone."

Her eyes darted to the entry of the clearing, and a confused look shone upon her face.

"Who is _that_? Don't they know the weather's supposed to be bad?"

She wouldn't recognize him. The lines in his aged face have made him unrecognizable. To Bella, he's an old man. I doubt that she even realizes that she would be precisely that age if she hadn't been changed.

"It's no one, love, no one at all. Let's run."

And so, I take her hand and we run, feet flying the few miles to home, gone from our new grove in the time it takes Mike Newton to blink. But not quickly enough to avoid Bella's questions.

"Edward, really, who was that man? He just…he looked so familiar, and so shocked to see us. Do you know who he was?"

"He was…someone that we would have known. But not…not anymore, Bella. We left the life he lives. But I have you, and it's worth it for me."

"I can't put it any better, I guess. Forever. Always."

" I love you, Isabella Cullen. I'll always love you. Time and again."


End file.
